May 24, 2007

• Some Movies

  Over the past few days, I’ve watched a few movies.

  I wanted to rent a bunch of Peter Cook movies, because I remembered being a little kid and seeing ‘Hounds of the Baskervilles’ on a Saturday afternoon TV matinee.

  I ended up with “Whoops, Apocalypse!”, because “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies” wasn’t available. But, since I was in the neighborhood in the video store, I got “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes.” Yes, that’s the title. The movie’s long, too. Released in 1965.

  Also, because they were in the new releases: “Afro Samurai,” and “Letters from Iwo Jima.” It wasn’t until I got home that I realized the connection.

  “Afro Samurai” is an anachronistic hip-hop/samurai animé revenge tale, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. It’s kind of suck. And if you have cable TV, you knew this already, and you wouldn’t have rented it. Initially, the premise holds promise, but if you’re looking for something beyond the charm of hyperkinetic psychedelic samurai who talk like they’re gangsta rappers and black preachers, then you’re in the wrong place. Note also that it’s set up as five episodes, with commercial breaks still in place (though no commercials, of course). Avoid, or get “Samurai Champloo” instead.

  “Whoops, Apocalypse!” is supposed to be an “Airplane!”-like wacky take on global geopolitics during the darkest days of the cold war. And some of it is funny, like for instance, the end credits (there’s a credit for “Little girl who gets punched in the face ha ha ha”). But mostly it’s just tired. Michael Richards does a heroic job of holding this movie together, as the ubiquitous assassin. And yes, the rumors are true: He appears in blackface. And, of course, Peter Cook is outstanding as the insane Prime Minister of Britain.

  Note that “Whoops, Apocalypse!” is only available on PAL-format DVD, and reg’lar ol’ VHS, so you’ll have to hunt around if you want to see it. Not that I’d recommend you do, of course…

  “Letters from Iwo Jima.” I mean, wow. Just a big spectacle which is always just out of view around a corner from where we’re watching these Japanese soldiers struggle with themselves and each other. It’s an honest view of war, from the perspective of those who lost the battle. I haven’t seen “Flags of our Fathers,” which is the flip-side movie to this one, but I have to assume that both movies are something of an attempt to re-write the myths surrounding this battle, and surrounding the war in general. “Letters…” seems to be trying to undo 50 years of dehumanization, which is laudable, but it turns the traditionalist Japanese officers into the bad guys, with the US-educated officers as sympathetic, approachable characters. So while I appreciate the attempt, I think the subtext is that if you were educated in the US, Eastwood likes you and you get to be a good guy. So while I’m impressed with the filmmaking and the attempt to tie all this up into a narrative, it ends up reinforcing the thing it’s trying to break. Perhaps there are limits to the rehabilitation of some national stories.

  “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines” is way more fun than I remember. And it has actual flying machines. It’s really quite a technical achievement, and the fact that the ‘plot’ exists only to connect comedy bits or footage of flying machines is forgiveable.

  • 2:57 pm
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